La. Guard bids farewell to Soldiers deploying overseas

By Sgt. 1st Class Denis B. Ricou, LANG Public Affairs Office

BATON ROUGE, La. – The Louisiana National Guard bid farewell to 16 Soldiers of F Co., 1st Battalion of the 169th Aviation Regiment during an official deployment ceremony at the 204th Theater Airfield Operations Group readiness center in Hammond, La.

These deploying Soldiers volunteered to assist the Texas National Guard in providing air traffic services to the Central Command’s Area of Operations for nearly a year.

“To the Soldiers of F Company … thank you for being a part of the 1 percent of the United States’ population that serves our country,” said Brig. Gen. Thomas Friloux, director of the joint staff for the LANG. “I implore each of you to look out for one another, be safe, model excellence, and listen to and respect your teammates.”

“Families, thank you for attending. There is no way that the Soldiers getting ready to deploy can do what they are doing without your support,” said Lt. Col. Timothy Cleighton, commander of the 204th TAOG.

In 2018, this unit previously sent 12 Soldiers to Kuwait with the Arkansas National Guard and has also assisted with emergency responses in our state, to include Hurricanes Laura and Ida.